User Reviews

Reviews by IllNate:

Pours a very sexy amber red with a perfect amount of tan head and great retention. In the nose floral, citrus and pine, sweet malt, bit nutty. Taste follows with citrus, floral and pin hops. Nice malt character though with sweet caramel and nut. Mouthfeel is smooth, bitter, but highly drinkable. Overall a fine beer.

Cascadian is still developing as a style, but essentially it's a dark IPA. Most of the Cascadians I've had are darker and hoppier.

The bubbles are adequate in their mildly astringent support, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, amongst a few friendly pokes and prods from the gadabout hops. It finishes rather dry, the caramel malt beholden to the biscuity, bready side of its id, the char holding fast, and the hops still loitering like aimless fucking teenagers.

One of the better examples of the style that I've yet come across, as the charred nature doesn't force itself on you, and allows the base malt and hop goodness to duly strut its stuff. And that extra ABV? Pffft. Hardly a twinge, yet I still have the urge to go use that tiny touque included in the gift pack as a pillow right now.

T: The citrus bitterness is now all caught up to the sweet malts, whereas the nose was primarily sweet. Plum, grape, raisin, fig, and finishes grapefruit for me. Sweeter and maltier than I am used to for a CDA and I like it that way.

D/O: With the 'Cascadian' label and after having their Total Eclipse of the Hop, this isn't at all what I expected. It's hoppy, but the old school Mt. Hood & Cascade give it a lot of floral character. It reminds me of Pelican Doryman's Dark Ale, but it's "imperialized"... much more piny resin, with a bit of herbal character from the Nugget. Actually, it's like Troegs Nugget Nectar blended with the Doryman's Dark. Not a palate bruiser, but a drinkable ale that's full of character, with plenty of depth.

Perhaps it's a bit more American Brown than Cascadian, but the brewer has put the 'art' into artisanal.

A dark cola leaning towards brown with a thumbs width of dense mocha foam that slowly falls, my glass get caked with lace this looks great

S coco, cold coffee, dark toffee and a little anise, faint hops with just a little pine and citrus but it could use some more

T slightly more hops then the nose with some rind on top of the nose but still much more dark malts then hops

M medium bodied with a creamy feel from the bubbles, a little grit left behind and slightly sticky on the lips

O decent beer but reminds me more of a hopped porter then a black IPA, the booze is well concealed so that's always nice

perhaps an old bottle with faded hops? 88_3053? not too sure what that means, perhaps I need to consult papat444's fresh beer only web page. decent beer but like mentioned above needs a fair bit more of the green stuff for my ideal black IPA

Nice to see a beer in this style be smooth and refined in its mouthfeel. This is not too roasty and not too hoppy but instead all the elements work together as a whole. The dark malt is there to anchor the beer while the hops elevate it up. Tastes a lot like a hoppy American Brown Ale.

Appearance: Gathering Storm pours a clear but very dark garnet colour, with a thick, foamy, just-off-white head, which laced my glass beautifully as it subsided.

Smell: I'm getting a burnt caramel scent, perhaps with chocolatey hazelnut, and a good sense of the hops.

Taste: Obviously quite hoppy to the taste. Behind the hops, I'm getting chocolate and malts, and a bit of biscuit.

Mouthfeel: The body of Gathering Storm is medium - maybe on the heavy side, particular by IPA standards - and there's a medium level of carbonation.

Overall: This is a decent beer. Personally, Black IPAs aren't really my go-to beers, but I trust Howe Sound where hops are concerned and Gathering Storm is quite enjoyable. If anything, the hoppy profile dominates the flavour a little bit too much for my liking, but it doesn't destroy the beer by any means. Like I said: decent.